575. Maria Isabel Rios, How to Make Your Consulting Firm Work for You

Key takeaways

Shift from working for your firm to making it work for you by aligning business goals with personal happiness.
Identify specific personal intentions and translate them into actionable goals for your consulting practice.
Understand the five business models for consulting firms and choose one that aligns most closely with your life goals and business aspirations.
Adjust operational practices to prevent burnout and create a more sustainable work-life balance.
Set aside time for reflection and planning to ensure alignment between your daily activities and long-term objectives.

Summary

Making Your Firm Work for You

Maria Isabel Rios emphasizes the need for firm leaders to shift their mindset from working traditionally for their firm to making the firm work for them. She discusses how many leaders become overly focused on growing their firm at the expense of their personal satisfaction and well-being. Instead, firm leaders should evaluate what their firm contributes to their personal lives and how it can enhance their success and enjoyment. This involves a deeper examination of their original motivation for founding their firm and aligning business goals with personal values and happiness.

Identifying Personal Intentions and Firm Goals

The podcast dives into the crucial process of identifying personal intentions. These intentions serve as a foundation for setting specific firm goals. Maria discusses how firm leaders can articulate their intentions in areas like family, well-being, and financial success. By defining clear, specific goals—like dedicating one weekend day each week for family—consultants can create tailored strategies that align their firm’s operations with their personal aspirations. Understanding these intentions leads to greater joy and satisfaction, creating a roadmap that informs firm strategies.

Various Business Models and Their Implications

Maria outlines five key models for consulting firms that can help leaders achieve their personal and professional goals. These range from firms designed to provide a lifestyle to those focused on functioning as cash generation vehicles (ATMs) or long-term assets meant for sale. The distinctions between these models influence decision-making, staffing, and strategic priorities. Leaders should reflect on their firm's purpose to gauge what model suits their aspirations best and navigate their firm towards achieving those aims.

Shifts and Growth in Business Practices

Throughout the conversation, Maria highlights the importance of adjusting business practices to promote healthier work-life balance and avoid burnout. Independent consultants often have an ingrained perception of success tied to long hours and high profits. To reach a more sustainable model, Maria advises streamlining operations, prioritizing larger projects or a sustainable pipeline, and minimizing the founder's role in delivery. By re-evaluating their approach and seeking growth in lifestyle over volume, consultants can better align their firm’s operations with their desired personal outcomes.

Intentional Planning for Future Success

The episode concludes with a strong message about intentionality in planning. Listeners are encouraged to block time for reflection on their goals and personal intentions, helping to delineate steps toward achieving their long-term aspirations. Whether aiming for thought leadership, reduced hours, or healthy revenue streams, clarity in intentions allows firm leaders to align their daily activities with strategic pursuits, positioning them for future success.

Show notes

Show Notes:

Maria Isabel Rios discusses the importance of making a firm work for you, rather than working for your firm. She emphasizes that firm leaders often immerse themselves in their firm in service to growing the firm to make it successful. Maria Isabel suggests that a better way to be a firm leader is to make your firm work for you. This involves finding ways to evaluate your firm, add value to your life, and bring success into the picture.

A Formula to Make Your Firm Work for You

A formula for making a firm work for you includes identifying key areas of importance in your personal life, and looking at your consulting firm's purpose, values, and intentions. Then, you can look at how these elements can intersect. The formula should be tailored to your needs and preferences, and should be specific to your goals. For example, if you want to spend one weekend day with family, zero work, every week for the next 52 weeks, this can be a more specific goal. Another example is a firm leader setting their goals for financial success, which can be a specific percentage of their income that goes into their retirement account. By making these personal intentions specific, you can create a formula that works for you and your firm.

Personal Intentions and the Intersection with Work

Maria Isabel discusses the importance of identifying personal intentions and focusing on what brings joy to oneself then move on to the intersection with a firm. She describes five models of intention for firms and how this intersects with personal goals. Maria Isabel gives examples of firm leaders intentions and what they want in their personal and professional life, and how they make both work. She suggests that, by focusing on these models, individuals can better understand their intentions and make decisions that align with their goals and objectives. Maria Isabel explains how the different models work in both professional and personal life.

Shifts and Growth in Business Models

Maria Isabel talks about the concept of a shift in business model. She shares examples of clients who are overworked and need help to reduce their hours and focus on a healthier lifestyle. She emphasizes that independent consultants often have an embedded model in mind, which often involves working long hours for high profits and success. However, when clients feel burnt out, they may need to consider the happiness the firm life brings to the firm leader. To make a shift, Maria Isabel suggests that clients should consider their personal intentions and work backwards to determine how to achieve this. This could involve taking larger projects or creating more sustainability in their pipeline. Additionally, they should strategically shift the model of how they deliver to reduce the firm leader's role in delivery. Maria Isabel also touches on other aspects of the firm's role, such as building a reputation as a thought leader or creating an online course to generate revenue. By planning ahead and aligning activities to achieve these goals, clients can create a sustainable firm that can deliver on their desired lifestyle. Maria Isabel emphasizes the importance of being intentional about what they want and not automatically taking on more projects and hours each week.

Timestamps:

08:07: Prioritizing personal intentions and defining firm goals for the next 3-5 years

15:55: Building a business model for impact vs. financial gain

23:32: Scaling consulting firms sustainably, prioritizing firm leader's well-being

30:35: Planning and intentionality for consulting firms

Links:

https://www.davidafields.com/mondaylive

Website: https://www.davidafields.com/blog

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.